In the Met’s roll of artists, Yusif Eyvazov lists his home town as Algiers, Algeria.
Come again?
It appears Yusif was born in May 1977 in Algiers, the son of a Soviet meteorologist, a professor at the university.
The family eventually went home to Baku in Azerbaijan, which Yusif regards as home.
But maybe the Met knows better.
The French cellist Camille Thomas will play it on loan for the next year.
She writes: ‘Yesterday was a very special day for me. I am extremely happy to share the news that, thanks to the Nippon Music Foundation, I will play the magnificent Feuermann Stradivarius!
‘This iconic cello made in 1730 was played by legends like Franchomme, Feuermann, Aldo Parisot, Steven Isserlis and I feel deeply moved to be part of its wonderful history for the year to come.’
The public are being asked:
Toronto, ON (September 25, 2019) – Today, on the 87th anniversary of Glenn Gould’s birthday, the Glenn Gould Foundation invites the public to nominate individuals who have demonstrated a lifetime of extraordinary creative achievement, social impact and innovation for the Thirteenth Glenn Gould Prize.
‘We invite people from around the world to nominate those outstanding women and men whose life’s work manifests the values of innovation, inspiration and transformation embodied by the Glenn Gould Prize,” said Brian Levine, Executive Director of The Glenn Gould Foundation. Living candidates of any nationality are eligible. For full nomination guidelines visit www.glenngould.ca.
An international jury will assemble in 2020 to choose the Thirteenth Prize Laureate. The winner of The Glenn Gould Prize receives $100,000 (CDN) and The Glenn Gould Prize statue by Canadian artist Ruth Abernethy. The winner chooses an outstanding young artist who embodies the qualities of creative promise, innovation and career potential demonstrated by Gould in his youth to receive The Glenn Gould Protégé Prize of $15,000 (CDN). The laureate’s work is honoured through a series of public events presented within the year. Past laureates include Jessye Norman (2018), Philip Glass (2016), Robert Lepage (2014), Leonard Cohen (2011), Dr. José Antonio Abreu (2008), founder of El Sistema, Venezuela’s free music education program for children and youth, Pierre Boulez (2002), Yo-Yo Ma (1999), Oscar Peterson (1993) and Lord Yehudi Menuhin (1990).
This was the dress rehearsal at the Met for Verdi’s Macbeth, the one we will never see, with Anna Netrebko and the soon-to-be ousted Placido Domingo.
Operalover Sophia Cerovsek took this picture, which we present as one of the great might-have-beens.
Sophia tells us: ‘This photo will remain for me a very special memory and how it came about is kind of strange: I received a last minute ticket gift for the “Macbeth” dress rehearsal by my dear friend Richard Reissig, who came with our mutual friend Karen D’Angelo. Trish Cowart Krulin was also part of our group as we settled into our 8th row seats, just a few rows behind Placido’s family.
‘An announcement was made not to use flash, which I interpreted as taking photos without a flash would be permitted. But I knew they wouldn’t turn out well since it was so dark, nevertheless I took a few. At one point I changed inadvertently settings on the camera by turning a tiny wheel (in the dark), but have no recollection which setting I ended up using. After I down loaded the photos I found most of the dozen or so rather grainy and fuzzy, but then: there was this one: just perfect.’
So it is.
(c) Sophia Cerovsek
And here’s the final curtain call:
Among the 26 creators and thinkers who will each receive $625,000 MacArthur Fellowships over the next five years, there is one musician.
Here’s the citation:
Mary Halvorson, 38, guitarist and composer “Experimenting at the intersection of jazz and rock with a signature sound on her instrument and an aesthetic that evolves and surprises with each new album and configuration of bandmates.”
Has music really become so marginal to the American mind?
Before the ROH performance of Werther last night, there was a stage announcement that the simultaneous surtitles were out of action, following heavy downpours that had penetrated the house and damaged the technology.
Post Brexit, it looks like we’re going to have to learn languages again.
Could this be another establishment plot against the will of the people?
The diva’s social media have gone silent since the abrupt departure of Placido Domingo from the Met, where he was due to sing opposite her in tonight’s Macbeth.
She will have been informed of the change of cast by Peter Gelb, some short while after this wary-looking red-carpet pic was taken.
With his withdrawal from Macbeth and the statement that he will never perform again at the Met, Placido Domingo has drawn the curtain on an epic career – 51 consecutive seasons at the Met, 706 performances as a singer, 169 as a conductor.
This record will not be broken by any artist presently alive.
Domingo may continue to appear in Europe, where he is universally accepted at opera houses, but the hub of his legendary career is broken. He remains nominally general director of LA Opera during a legal investigation, but he is unlikely to resume that position.
This is not the time and place to consider cause and effect. A longer reflection is required on the state of opera and society, in due course.
As someone who first heard Domingo sing in glorious youth at the Tel Aviv Opera, who has observed his ups and downs, marvelled at the summits and seen the warts and all, I feel nothing but sadness for everyone involved in this final act, especially for Placido himself.
Remember this.
And this.
The City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra begins its centenary season tomorrow.
Like all orchestras outside London (and most within), the CBSO gets minimal attention in the shrinking review space of the main so-called national newspapers and, sadder still, even in local newspapers.
We at slippedisc.com think it would be a crying scandal if the centennial of a major English institution went unnoticed. So we have arranged with the best critics in the West Midlands to file reviews of every CBSO concert all year long. Every concert, only on Slipped Disc.
Starting Friday with an epoch-making Child of Our Time.
Full disclosure: Slipped Disc has no commercial relationship with the CBSO or any of its artists and partners.
The Halle orchestra in Manchester is advertising for a chief executive.
John Summers will retire next summer at 67 after 20 years in the job.
This is how it looked before he took over.
The singer ‘has agreed to withdraw’ from the Metropolitan Opera’s performance of Verdi’s Macbeth amid allegations of sexual misconduct, the opera house announced last night.
Domingo, 78, said he would never sing at the Met again. The Met’s general manager Peter Gelb said: ‘We are grateful to him for recognizing that he needed to step down.’
Macbeth is due to open tonight. Zelko Lucic will sing the title role.
The announcement came 24 hours after the Met’s general manager, Peter Gelb, let it be known that he was standing by Domingo.
Domingo said: ‘I made my debut at the Metropolitan Opera at the age of 27 and have sung at this magnificent theater for 51 consecutive, glorious years,” the star said. “While I strongly dispute recent allegations made about me, and I am concerned about a climate in which people are condemned without due process, upon reflection, I believe that my appearance in this production of ‘Macbeth’ would distract from the hard work of my colleagues both on stage and behind the scenes.
‘As a result, I have asked to withdraw, and I thank the leadership of the Met for graciously granting my request. I am happy that, at the age of 78, I was able to sing the wonderful title role in the dress rehearsal of ‘Macbeth,’ which I consider my last performance on the Met stage.’
Only 24 hours ago Gelb was insisting there was no reason Domingo should go, but internal pressure appears to have overtaken them.
Domingo has sung 706 times at the Met and conducted 169 nights.
He is now effectively persona non grata on US stages, while continuing to be welcomed in Europe.